The Harsh Light Of Day
by dreams of a stranger
Summary: Set one year after Bella wakes up as a Vampire, basically a continuation of Breaking Dawn... not planning graphic lemons at the moment, but you never know
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer – anything you recognise doesn't belong to me**

"Show me" Edward insisted, giving me the smouldering look that made me give in 99.9% of the time as I hid my face behind a pillow in embarrassment.

"Shh, no!" I said, playfully swatting his now roaming hands, "Renesmee and Jacob are right next door, and there is no way you will be able to restrain yourself if I show you what I was picturing." I was or once grateful that there was a prevention to our lovemaking; his was one daydream that I didn't want my gorgeous husband to see... somehow I thought the image of us having passionate sex in a pile of mud, surrounded by drained mountain lion carcasses would offend his Victorian mannerisms.

"Please" he sulked. I considered imagining a different scene while removing my shield. But Edward could always tell when I was lying, even without my human blush. "I know it was a good daydream; you had the sexiest look in your eyes..." he continued "I promise I'll be good."

"No you won't!" I said.

"I was the model of restraint when you you were human, as proven by the fact that you are not dead" he reasoned with a crooked grin on his perfect face.

One more look from his beautiful eyes was all it took for him to get his way. I cringed slightly to myself as I removed my shield completely from my mind to allow him to see, and imagined our naked mud wrestle. I saw his eyes widen in surprise for an instant before they darkened with desire as my fantasy flooding his mind.

"Well well...who knew?! Isabella Marie Cullen likes it dirty!" He leant over towards me with a look in his eyes that I rarely saw during daylight.

"Edward! I'm serious; I don't want Nessie seeing that!" I admonished him.

"Fine," he said, pouting slightly, then a cunning gleam came into his eyes "Would you care to accompany me on a hunting trip my beautiful wife?"

I laughed out loud at this "I don't think that would be wise... we're supposed to be going to the house on Alice's orders soon, remember? I don't think she'd appreciate me being late for my own party."

Edward sighed in defeat, knowing no one in the world could come up with an excuse that Alice would believe or accept for missing their own party. Yes, it was my birthday. I was 20 years old, although I hadn't changed since I woke up from my vampire change one year ago today; handy really that both birthdays occurred on the same day – it gave Alice one less excuse for a party. It had been Renesmee's first birthday 3 days before, and I have literally never seen anything like it. Both the main house and our little cottage in the woods had been covered in pink fabric – the walls, the furniture, the floors... there was a gift hidden in every room and it took our daughter all day to find them. The final one was a cake that was taller than she was, which was ridiculous since only her and Jacob actually ate any of it.

I went into Nessie's bedroom and smiled at the sight of her and Jacob playing on her Xbox whilst laughing uncontrollably- he was such a good friend for her to have, I knew she'd always be safe and happy with him.

"Come on missy" I said, scooping her warm body into my arms and perching her on my hip, "It's nearly time to go into the main house to what torture Aunty Alice has planned for me!"

Renesmee grinned toothily at the mention of Alice's name. Alice had spent a ridiculous amount of time after the Voluturi's 'visit', making up her absence up to my daughter. This mainly included shopping and playing dress-up, which I was happy about for two reasons – firstly, Nessie had physically become an 8 year old and grew out of her clothes at an alarming rate so constantly needed new ones, and secondly, it diverted some of Alice's attention away from playing Bella Barbie with me: and activity I loathed beyond belief.

"Am I coming? Staying here? Going home?" Jacob asked me, still not 100% sure of his position in the family as Nessie's imprint.

"Come with us!" Nessie demanded, bouncing excitably in my arms. She pressed her hand to my cheek and showed an image of her Jacob in the main house together. As she got older she was using her gift less and less as a means of communication and more often just if she needed to show us something rather than tell us.

"You're welcome as far as I'm concerned Jake, but I have no idea what Alice has planned. But whatever it is, it is likely to go on for a long time, so waiting here would probably be silly" I reasoned.

"Fair enough, I'll go home." He got up and stretched, his hands hitting the ceiling of our little cottage with his massive reach "By Squirt", he hugged Nessie briefly, "see ya tomorrow, oh and Happy Birthday Bells".

My cell phone started ringing, with Alice's name on the caller ID. I sighed and handed it to Nessie.

"If this is her telling me what to wear to the party, you can talk to her."

Nessie giggled and casually flipped the phone open "Hi Aunty Allie!" she sang playfully into the phone then giggled "OK, see you soon".

I raised an eyebrow as she gazed innocently up at me "She said to tell you: third closet on the left, top drawer, silver boxes" she repeated dutifully "Oh and she said 'Or else'"

Not wanting to risk whatever 'else' might be, I carried Nessie into mine and Edwards' bedroom and lightly tossed her onto the massive bed before striding into the closet and going to the designated place. There were six silver boxes... SIX! I sighed, spread them on the bed and opened them one by one. The first two contained an emerald green dress shirt, black trousers and a pair of expensive looking Italian shoes.

"Edward" I said, not bothering to shout, knowing he would have heard me whisper. He came into the room and smiled when he saw he boxes.

"Alice?" he guessed.

I nodded grimly and continued opening boxes. The next were for Nessie – a gorgeously cute ruby coloured dress with a bow around the middle, with matching shoes. I was relieved that Alice was sticking to my request of only buying my daughter clothing appropriate for her apparent age... I didn't need her in mini-skirts or lacy bras just yet, I wanted to preserve the little childhood time she had instead of her acting older. In my box was a sapphire blue dress. It was full length with a sweetheart neckline, a low back and a long slit up the side (picture on profile). Of course Alice had included shoes with a heel that would have easily caused me to break my ankle a year and a bit ago.

"Right, I suppose we had better get dressed before the little pixie comes and does it for us" I muttered.

"'Kay Mama" Nessie said as she grabbed her boxes and bounded into her room.

Ten minutes later we congregated in front of the cottage in our new outfits, Nessie and I sporting matching up dos in our hair.

"Well don't we look colourful?" Edward chuckled looking at out outfits. "I wonder what she's got the rest dressed in"

We ran slowly (for us) to the big house, which looked strangely dark. I pushed the front door open hesitantly and turned to the living room entrance.

"SURPRISE!"

"ALICE!" I yelled, recovering quickly from the shock, "you told me there was a party, it isn't a surprise!"

"I know, I know" she giggled, "but surprise parties are so much more fun, dontcha think?"

I shook my head in disbelief and looked around to see the rest of the family. Esme was dressed in a deep burnt orange dress, Carlisle in a pale yellow shirt, Alice and Jasper were both in different shades of purple, with Emmett in a white shirt and Rosalie in a stunning black gown. Edward chuckled quietly "And why exactly did you decide to dress us as a rainbow Alice?" he asked.

"Bored" she replied, skipping over to me before throwing herself at me "Happy Birthday Bella!" she cried, hugging me tightly.

"Thanks Alice, although this is too much!" I gestured around the room which had been swathed in black chiffon – it covered all the windows and walls and draped beautifully from the centre of the ceiling to the edges giving the illusion of being in a large tent. There were twinkling fairy lights poked through the fabric, and all the furniture had been removed apart from Edward's piano and a few silver chairs that I had never seen before. I'm sure my face mirrored the look of amazement I saw on Renesmee's small face

"Well since you insisted on no guests, I had to go overboard somewhere, and _voila!_" she twirled on the spot and everybody laughed again. "Rosalie! Position please?"

Rosalie gracefully sat down at the piano and began to play the lullaby the Edward composed for me. I smiled as he swept me into a dance. I rested my head lightly against his firm chest as we swayed gently to the melody. Taking our lead, Carlisle led Esme out into an elegant waltz. Alice skipped out into the middle of the room and crooked her finger at a grinning Jasper who joined her in an instant. I beamed when I saw Emmett dancing with Renesmee; he had lifted her clean off the ground and was performing an overly dramatic tango with her dangling about three feet in the air. Edward looked at my smile with an intrigued look on his face. I cocked my head in our daughter's direction, then though back to the prom when Edward danced with me on his feet. I pushed my shield away and Edward grinned as broadly as I did as he remembered what I was thinking about.

The night continued with everyone but Renesmee and I taking turns to the piano, and everyone swapping dance partners many times.

I was laughing as Emmett tried to convince me to break-dance with him to Jasper playing Beethoven when Renesmee let out a tiny yawn and tried to stifle when she saw eight vampires spin their heads towards her.

"I think that's our cue to get this one back o the cottage" Edward said as Nessie shook her head furiously.

"I'm fine!" she protested, but another yawn slipped out and we all laughed.

"OK, you can leave" Alice announced from her position lounging on her stomach on the piano, head in hands, feet waving in the air so she could gaze at Jasper as he played, "but first... PRESENTS!"

I groaned and slapped my hand to my head. Since normally Alice couldn't wait to hand out presents, I'd hoped that the lack of gifts being shoved at me the second I entered the door meant my new(ish) family had finally listened to me and stopped buying me presents. No such luck as I saw Alice jump from the piano and dash out of the room. She was back in an instant carrying a stack of gifts in the same type of silver boxes that the clothes were in earlier.

"Relax Bella," Edward whispered in my ear as he stood behind me and snaked his arms around my waist "it's because we all love you so much that we want to buy gifts for you." I'd had this argument with the Cullens more times than I could remember so I kept quiet as I was led over to the gifts that were now on a small table.

"Mine first" said Esme, and we all looked at her in shock, "what? I can't be demanding for once in my existence? Anyway, the gift from Carlisle and I is for both Bella and Edward, so I want to get it out of the way so the focus can go back to her alone"

She handed me a flat silver box which I opened to find 2 envelopes, one marked 'House', the other 'Holiday'. I looked up at her in confusion.

"That one contains plans for an extension to your cottage, if you want it, for two more rooms – a study-come-library and a spare room" she told me, indicating the first envelope.

"Yea since you guys somehow managed to fill the last one" Emmett boomed, nudging Nessie lightly with his elbow as she giggled.

Edward smiled and wrapped his arms around me and our daughter. "Thank you Esme, Carlisle, this is wonderful!"

"Anyway," Esme continued "if you like the plans I'm going to have the work done while you two are using the second envelope – return flights and boat hire for a second honeymoon on Isle Esme, plus babysitting services for as long as you are gone"

"Thanks you guys, this is amazing" I grinned at my parents in-law, and grabbed each of them into a hug that would have broken several bones in humans.

Edward smirked as I removed my shield and imagined the two of us covered in feathers.

"Hmm, well please try not to destroy any furniture this time you two," Carlisle said as everyone but Nessie sniggered, "or if that's too much to ask, at least leave the house standing"

I was still amazed at the gift when another was abruptly pushed towards me. I read the tag:

'_To Bella,_

_I know this all interested you at the bonfire the other year so I asked Emily for what she wrote down, and I made copies.... Happy Birthday, _

_Love Jake_

_X_

_Ps this is the only copy of this book in existence, so don't burn it or anything'_

I looked into the box to find a leather bound book with a full moon with a wolf silhouette embossed onto the cover beneath the words _'Quileute Legends"_. I was awestruck and opened the cover to start reading. Approximately half a second passed before the book was snatched from me and replaced with another box.

"That's from me and Emmett" Rosalie said, smiling at me. I opened the small box to find several tiny silver charms. "It's time you added more to that bracelet than just a wolf and a heart" she reasoned.

Emmett pulled my wrist towards him and in a few seconds the rest of the charms were on the bracelet. I looked at it and found a silver 'B' with a matching 'E' next to it, a tiny silver pacifier which I knew was to represent Nessie, and, in exquisite detail, a miniature Cullen family crest. I smiled broadly and thanked the couple.

"Now mine and Jazz's" Alice squealed, and thrusted a heavy square box at me that contained a large black book, covered in silk with diamantes spelling _"Bella's 20__th__ & 1__st__ Birthday Album"_ on it.

I opened it up and gasped a the photograph on the first page of Edward and I at the prom, gazing into each other's eyes as we stood by the punch bowl.

"I didn't know anyone took our photo that night" Edward said, confused.

Alice gave her tinkling music box laugh "I'm just sneaky like that".

I flicked through the album, seeing a photo of Edward with his arm around me as I curled in his lap watching TV, one of Rosalie doing my hair, lots from our wedding, one of me hugging Charlie, me with Renee and Phil...

I looked at Alice in disbelief, not knowing that any of these photos even existed until now. "Keep going!" she told me.

Then there was one of Renesmee, she was so tiny, newborn. I'd only seen her that small for a few moments before I lost consciousness. She was only like it for a day or so. The rest of the album was filled with photos of my daughter, and ones of her with Edward, or me, or both of us. Finally there was one of the whole Cullen family, minus me. I felt so happy looking at the album. Alice hugged me quickly and said "I knew you'd like it"

"I love it! Thank you so much! And you, Jasper!"

"Can I give you my present now Mama?" Renesmee asked quietly.

"Oh, Nessie! You shouldn't have got me anything"

"Daddy helped me" she smiled shyly and handed me a small silver box. It was a CD, which Edward took from me and placed in the stereo behind one of the black curtains. The room was filled with a gentle piano melody that I was sure I had never heard before, but it still felt strangely familiar.

"It's her playing" Edward whispered to me. I looked in shock at my daughter who, to my knowledge, didn't play the piano. Edward continued proudly "she wrote this piece for you". He smiled at Nessie who I now had locked in a hug and was smothering her face in kisses.

"Ew, Mama, leave it out!" she playfully fought me off, grinning broadly; looking so much like her father it was incredible.

After many more 'thank you's and 'happy birthday's and with Nessie nearly asleep on her feet, Edward picked her up and we ran back o the cottage and put her to bed before going into our room.

"Happy, love?" Edward asked me.

"Very," I smiled "tonight was perfect, and I can't believe what amazing gifts I got!"

"Well there's still one more" he said slyly, pulling a silver jewellery box from the nightstand.

"Edward!" I said warningly, recognising the type of box.

"Don't worry, love, I swear the box is the only thing I spent money on, and that was only because Alice insisted that my gift matched all of the others" he told me, staring deep into my eyes, which were now just a shade different to his; no longer the frightening red they had been a year ago.

I took the box from his proffered hand and opened it up. Inside was an antique silver locket. I picked it up and allowed the thin chain to slide through my fingers.

"It was my mother's." Edward told me solemnly, opening it to show two photographs. One was another of Alice's candid shots showing Edward, Renesmee and myself hugging and laughing in the snow. The other was an aged sepia picture of a formal looking trio – one of whom I recognised instantly. "That is the only photograph of me with my parents" I looked up at him, wide-eyed "so I'm giving it to you to keep safe... do you like it?"

I couldn't find the words I was looking for o show my gratitude and emotion, so I removed my shield so he could hear how confused but joyous my thoughts were. He laughed lightly and took the locket and box away from me and placed them back on the nightstand. He took my hand in his and grazed my cheek with his free hand.

"I love you." He said simply. I was still speechless from his gift, so all I could do was grab him and kiss him as if my life depended on it. He pressed himself against me harder and I held back a moan. "Nessie's asleep now..." he hinted with a crooked smile. As a response I reached behind myself and unzipped my dress, slipped the straps off of my shoulders and let the blue fabric pool around my feet, my lips never leaving his.

It was without doubt an amazing birthday.

**A/N. So what do we think? Longish introductory chapter, the plot starts in the next chapter. Will be leaving it as a one shot unless I get some reviews....**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer... not mine, if it was I wouldn't be the poor struggling student I am! Lol**_

_The next day dawned to find me curled up in bed with Edward; our eyes closed, looking like slumber to the casual observer. We'd got into the habit in the last year of spending some time lying like this almost every night. It intermitted the endless day that we were given when we stopped needing to sleep. Sometimes it was for only a minute, other times it was for hours, but for a while at least it was nice to have a sense of normality._

_I lay there with my cheek against my husband's sculpted chest, listening to the soothing sound of his slow, rhythmic breathing as the first shafts of light broke through the white billowy curtains, when an idea slowly crept into my brain._

"_Edward" I spoke aloud for the first time in hours, "I've been thinking about something, and I want your opinion", I shifted my weight slightly so I could see his face more clearly, his expression was puzzled and he gestured for me to continue. "I've been practicing so much, and I think that it would just be easier for both of us from now on if I remove my shield permanently". _

_I was expecting a joyous reaction, or at least a smile. Edward had been complaining since we first met about how frustrating it is for him to not be able to read me, and I hardly think that the occasional glimpses I give him now that I can are enough to ease that. Instead of happiness, I got a wary, worried expression._

"_What?" I asked, feeling slightly hurt that he didn't appreciate my gesture, "I thought this would make you happy"_

"_Silly Bella" he chastised me gently, smiling slightly now "it would make me immensely happy for me to be able to hear your mind all the time. But, what if we come into danger again? I couldn't bear it if someone were injured or worse because I was selfish enough to want to be inside your private mind"_

"_I didn't mean 100% of the time!" I was shocked, he was supposed to be the intelligent, logical one in this relationship "I meant that instead of it being there and me consciously removing it, I might try to live without it, and consciously turn it on"_

"_Really? You would do that? For me?"_

"_Edward, I have told you before: there's nothing I wouldn't do for you" I leant forward and gently pressed my lips to his "I tell you everything that you don't already know anyway, so really, this is nothing"_

_He flashed me his signature smile and leant in for another kiss, but his lips were met with my hand, which was now glittering in the morning light that was pouring through the window._

"_I do have a few conditions though. Firstly, obviously what you see and hear stays between us as always. Second, if I put my shield up it will be for a good reason, and I need you to trust me and not question me, or be offended" he cringed slightly and I knew he was recalling when I made a contingency plan for our daughter and Jacob. The only way the plan would have worked was for me and my shielded mind to tell no one, so it could not get back to Aro._

"_Sounds fair to me, but please don't feel like you have to do this." He looked deep into my eyes and I felt love swell in my un-beating heart._

"_I want to, silly, or I wouldn't have suggested it. Oh, maybe it's best if I keep it up sometimes when Alice and Rosalie force me to have 'girl talk', you really don't want to hear what they say"_

_He laughed lightly, "You are probably correct. So when does this new arrangement start?" _

"_No time like the present" I pondered about the best way to do this "But I'm going to try it a different way, so it might not work or hold"_

_He opened his mouth to speak, and I held one finger up to stop him. I'd always imagined my shield as a bubble or a balloon which I was inside that I could stretch, shape or move out of at will, so to remove it permanently I could think of three ways to do it: _

_I could push it away from me like I do to show Edward something, but that would take constant concentration, and it still slips very occasionally when I'm distracted._

_I could expand it as big as I could make it so that Edward was also inside it, which would give the added bonus of protecting him against any unexpected attack, but again, I don't think I could keep it up permanently; which leads me to..._

_I was thinking about doing the opposite of usual, and shrinking my shield to as small as it would go and sucking it inside of me. Since I wasn't technically removing it, I thought it would be easier to hold, plus when I'm stressed/in danger, it tends to explode out, so it'll be there ready and waiting if I need it._

_I closed my eyes and concentrated on shrinking my shield, focusing it to a point in the middle of my stomach. It was easy really, and once I felt it leave my head it stayed exactly where I left it, with no effort what so all._

"It worked!"_ I thought "_I reckon I can hold this here forever, how's the reception on your end?"

_Edward grinned broadly and kissed me deeply. He pulled away whispering "I love you."_

_"Right lazy bones, we can't stay here all day, as much as I might want to, you just know we'd be jumped on by an annoying little pixie if we do" I hopped out of bed with my vampire grace, and walked into the giant closet, sniffing for anything un-fancy to wear. As I reached for the bottom draw where I knew there was a pair of jeans stashed, I heard quiet muttering coming from the bedroom._

"_I don't want to get out of bed; I want to stay here with the woman I love"_

_Smiling, I headed back to him, planning on getting right back into bed with him "Aw, I love you too Edward" _

"_Huh?" he again looked confused. "I know you do, but why did you just say that?"_

_Was he trying to be funny? "Because I just heard you say it to me first, and how you didn't want to get of bed"_

_His eyes widened "Bella, I didn't say anything."_

"_Yes, you did!" this was frustrating; if he was making fun of me I didn't appreciate it._

"_No" he said slowly, as if he was explaining himself to a child, "I thought it. In my head. No words"_

"Can you hear this"_ I heard his voice in my head as clear and smooth as ever, but his lips never moved._

"Oh my gosh!"_ I thought, sinking onto the bed in shock as Edward slid out of the way "Does this mean I can hear everyone's thoughts, just like you?"_

"_I don't know" Edward looked completely perplexed "I think we need to find out though. Come on, we'll head up to the house and talk to Carlisle"_

_20 minutes later and I was sitting in Carlisle's office, with him behind the desk as Edward paced around restlessly. We had dropped Renesmee in the kitchen with Esme who was cooking up a ridiculously large breakfast for her._

"_So you removed your shield and ever since then you can hear Edward's thoughts?" my father in law confirmed as I nodded, still slightly numb with shock "I've been purposefully blocking my mind so as to not shock you. Tell me if you can hear anything coming from me that isn't coming from my mouth, I'm going to count in my head"_

_I looked at him, and.... silence. I sighed and bowed my head, partly relieved, partly disappointed._

"Hmm, maybe she can only hear you Edward. That's interesting"_ My head snapped up just in time to see that Carlisle didn't say that aloud._

"_I heard that!" I yelped. Carlisle looked at me with an odd expression on his face._

"Bella",_ Carlisle's voice again filled my head_

"_And that!" I wheeled around to look at Edward, hearing him reciting the alphabet backwards. "And that!"_

"_How odd" Carlisle said, leaning back as if to get a better look at me "I have been thinking of random , meaningless thoughts and you only reacted when I though your name. It seems that you can only hear my thoughts when they are about you, or directed to you. A very useful talent."_

"_But I just heard Edward saying the alphabet backwards, that's not about me" I was beyond confused at this point._

"_Curious," Carlisle said. "Edward please sit down, the pacing is not helping anybody" Edward picked me off my chair, sat on it and placed me in his lap with a quick smile. I smiled back and turned so I could rest my cheek on his shoulder._

"Are you OK?"_ he thought._

"Fine, just a bit overwhelmed"_ I replied, marvelling at how easily we could communicate privately. He squeezed me gently into a hug. I say gently, it probably would have cracked all of my ribs when I was human._

"_I have a theory." Carlisle said, bursting our bubble of silence. "The two of you have always been, how can I put this? ... Interlinked. Your lives have been completely for each other since you met. I still stand by my previous idea of you only being able to hear thoughts about you or ones people want you to hear; I just think that every thought Edward has is one that he wants you to hear."_

_Edward tilted his head slightly to the left and I could hear him slowly repeating Carlisle's theory in his head. His eyes had that hard, solid colour that they got when something was worrying him._

"_Makes sense to me," I said, "but why is this happening at all? I've already got my special vampy power, I'm a shield!"_

"_Again, I have a theory..." Carlisle turned to Edward "After I changed you, how long it was until you first heard somebody's thoughts?"_

"_I'm not sure, several months I suppose" Edward replied "before then it was just a bit of noise in the background. Do you think that's what's happening to Bella?"_

"_Perhaps. It was just over a year ago that Bella was changed; maybe she is officially no longer a newborn and only now fully aware of her powers. Maybe because it was your venom that caused her change, she has developed a portion of your abilities. Maybe her shield as blocking some of her own mental abilities, not just everyone else's, and now it is gone it isn't anymore." _

_All three options made a weird sort of sense to me; I didn't really care why this was happening to be honest._

"_I'll leave the two of you alone, I'm sure you've got a lot to 'chat' about" Carlisle tactfully withdrew from his office._

_I turned to Edward and tried to know what he was thinking, but it was silent._

"_Edward..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say exactly. _

_He must have heard something in my tone, heard something in my thoughts or felt something in my body that was still perched on his lap, because suddenly his eyes softened and I knew that everything would be OK._

"Bella I'm sorry, I love you. Everything will be fine, it's better than fine."_ His lips weren't moving but his voice was as beautiful as always in my mind._

"What Carlisle said, about all your thoughts being for me... makes me realise how lucky I am to have you" _He smiled at me again and I crumbled. I leant in to kiss him, my lips moulding perfectly around his. _"This is totally going to work to our advantage you know"

"I know"_ he smirked in an evil way, an expression I was used to seeing on Emmett's face more than anybody else's. _"We can have totally private conversations in front of everybody. Plus with me being able to read everyone's mind, and you being able to read mine; you can hear whatever I hear."

_I was gobsmacked, I hadn't even thought about that. _

"In a way I'm glad it's taken this long to kick in. Because if I got this a year ago I probably wouldn't have noticed or developed my shield underneath the awesomeness of this, and we'd all be dust or in dark cloaks right about now."_ I threaded my fingers between his and cuddled closer to his muscular chest._

"_True" he whispered and kissed me sweetly lips never leaving mine, he continued _"did I ever thank you for that by the way?"

"Yes, every single minute of every single day"_ I recognised the path that this kiss was taking so I pulled away with regret. "I think it's time we go tell the others. Can I please have fun with it first though?"_

"_Of course, my love" he stood up quickly and moved his arms so he was carrying me bridal style. I laughed and he ran at full speed from the room, down the hall and stairs and dropped me on the sofa next to our daughter who was happily eating her breakfast of banana pancakes – one of the only human foods she actually liked. Edward sat between me and Nessie and put an arm around each of us, pulling us both into a hug as Esme removed the plate from where it was precariously balanced on the arm._

"_Someone's in a good mood today" Emmett said, glancing away from his video game for all of 2 seconds. _"Bet Bella gave him the good loving last night"

_I looked at Edward and we both had to bite our bottom lips to keep from laughing. _

"_So Nessie, what have you got planned for the day?" I asked cheerily._

"_Uncle Jazz is going to teach me some history." She answered, smiling angelically up at her father and I. _

_Since she obviously couldn't go to school since she was changing too much, we've all been educating her at home. We didn't have a fixed timetable but between us we tried to do a couple of hours of something educational every day. Jasper taught her history, Carlisle taught her biology which, quite frankly, was almost at the level I was studying when I sat with Edward as a junior. Alice used her decades of shopping to do maths with Renemee, and I used my love of the classics to put a bit of literature in the mix. Emmett tried to claim that video games were PE, and Rosalie helped with art. Esme and Edward filled in the rest, and apparently due to yesterday's revelation, taught her to play the piano._

"_Sounds fun," I said, reaching over Edward to hug her myself. "and then I'm guessing you're playing dress up with Alice"_

"_Yes she is," Alice bounced in and snatched Nessie up into her arms and carried on bouncing "Lucky for me, someone from the Swan clan inherited the fashion genes from somewhere"_

"_That's lovely Alice, but can you put her down? She's just eaten" I asked, watching Renesmee's curls bouncing up and down._

"_Oops, sorry buddy" she said, standing still for what might just have been the first time in her existence. _"Although maybe if I carried on, she'll throw up on that ugly outfit Bella's wearing and she'll have to change. Why I let her keep jeans and casual clothes I will never know... and I'm psychic! I'm just too nice, and underappreciated, that's it! No thanks for the effort I put in to these things, it's ru-"

"_Alice!" I interrupted her mental rant, "I just wanted to say thanks again for the party last night. It was perfect, exactly what I wanted" I saw Edward look away to hide his expression._

"Good one" _he thought._

_Alice looked shocked for a fraction of a second before her face split into a smile that seemed too big for her little face_

"_You are more than welcome!" she strolled out of the room, Nessie in tow._

"Hope you're having fun"_ Edward was looking at Emmett "_He's wondering why I'm not annoyed with him for his mental innuendo earlier. I think I should tell him it's because what he said was very true. Play along?"_ I nodded ever so slightly._

"_Emmett?" he called and the muscle mountain that was our brother swivelled around in his gaming chair with a ridiculously overly innocent look on his face._

"_Yes little brother?"_

"_I'm not mad at you" Edward said. Emmett looked confused "I can't be mad at you for stating a fact!"_

"_Oh my god!" Emmett literally jumped out of the chair and grabbed my husband into a bone crunching bear hug. "I have never been so proud of you. You just.... admitted.... oh my god!"_

"_What was that for Emmett?" I asked, giving him a wide eyed look from my seat._

_He dumped Edward back unceremoniously and looked awkward. He was still holding true to the arrangement he made when I beat him in an arm wrestle; no sexual innuendos or references about Edward and I. _

"_Errr nothing Belly-button, just... err... you know... guy stuff!" he looked proud at his answer._

"_You mean sex?" I asked bluntly "We had a deal Emmett!" I was struggling not to slip as I kept an annoyed expression._

"_No Bella, it's not sex, it was a sports reference" Edward said from behind Emmett's back, winking at me, and then pointing to his ear then temple._

_I listened to Edward's thoughts and was shocked to hear Emmett's voice _"thanks man, I owe you one"

_Emmett then went out to the garage to see Rosalie who was yet again tinkering with his Jeep. We followed slightly and sat on the front porch. I could hear Emmett whispering frantically to his wife, and while I couldn't make out the words, I could guess it was about what just happened_

"Yea well Bella's shy about sex, inexperienced, not her fault. She must be bad in bed!"_ I heard Rose's thoughts._

_"I am not Rosalie!" I called loudly, offended at her opinions, without thinking._

_She was in front of me in a second, staring wildly._

"_How did you hear me?" _

_Busted._

_**A/N You like? Lemme know**_


End file.
